Hinkesforst natural forest cell
The natural forest cell Hinkesforst is a piece of forest in the area of the city of Ratingen that is not managed according to the principle of the North Rhine-Westphalian natural forest cells . The size of the Hinkesforst natural forest cell is 13.6 hectares.
This natural forest cell is located in the Lower Rhine Plain , between Düsseldorf and Duisburg , a little west of the Ratingen districts of Tiefenbroich and Lintorf . The terrain is largely flat and is 37 m above sea level. The climate is characterized by the following values: annual average temperature 9.8 ° C with relatively mild winters, annual precipitation 700 mm. The area belongs to the lower terrace on the right bank of the Rhine, the soil is accordingly composed of sediments . 30 to 100 cm of sandy-loamy substrate from which the soil has formed is deposited over gravel and sand. Gleye can be found in sandy areas with little cover of the gravelly subsoil, pseudogleye in clay areas with greater cover . The groundwater is now approximately 1.75 m below the surface, it used to be higher and was already 60 cm below the surface. The soil and the plants still show traces of the former high groundwater level. The nutrient content of the soil is usually only low, the pH value is in the acidic range.
The forest area is mentioned in 1794 as "Henkesforst", it consisted to a large extent of alder and oak. At that time drainage ditches were dug to promote the oaks. In 1861 alder and oak were again mentioned as the most important tree species. Between 1870 and 1880 oaks, ash trees and elms were planted and old trees were placed on the cane. Many of the trees that exist today still come from this planting.
The forest can now be characterized as a common oak-hornbeam forest, the plant community belongs to the Stellario-Carpinetum . In the upper layer of the tree there are common oak ( Quercus robur ), ash ( Fraxinus excelsior ), sycamore maple ( Acer pseudoplatanus ), white elm ( Ulmus laevis ), black alder ( Alnus glutinosa ) and beech ( Fagus sylvatica ). Pedunculate oaks and ash trees are fairly evenly aged from 125 to 140 years and form a fairly closed canopy into which the other tree species are scattered. A poorly developed lower tree layer is formed by the hornbeam ( Carpinus betulus ). The shrub layer, which is very different in places, consists mainly of hazelnut ( Corylus avellana ), hawthorn ( Crataegus ), rowanberry ( Sorbus aucuparia ) and blackberry ( Rubus fruticosus ). The bushes are partly overgrown with forest honeysuckle ( Lonicera periclymenum ). The herbaceous ground vegetation is quite poor in species. Dominating Millet ( Milium effusum ), lawn Schmiele ( Deschampsia cespitosa ) and the Lady Fern ( Athyrium filix-femina ).
Ash, white elm and alder are interpreted as relics of what was once a much more humid soil and higher groundwater. This is also supported by occurrences of the swamp sedge ( Carex acutiformis ) and the broad-leaved thorn fern ( Dryopteris dilatata ). The transformation process from this humid forest to today's drier soil is the subject of scientific observation in this natural forest cell.
supporting documents
- State Institute for Ecology, Landscape Development and Forest Planning (Hrsg.): Natural forest cells in North Rhine-Westphalia . Part I. 1975. pp. 71-75.
- Natural forest cell No. 10, Hinkesforst. Landesbetrieb Wald und Holz Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed on February 1, 2016 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 25 ″ N , 6 ° 48 ′ 37 ″ E